Morocco Facts and Figures

Want to know more about Morocco and its warm and friendly people. Let us take a look at some interesting facts and figures of this fascinating country.

Morocco is a beautiful kingdom strategically located between Europe and Africa. The country has seen many hardships. With the accession of King Mohammed VI in 1999 the country has turned a new chapter of development in both the political and economic liberalization.

The last few years have been relatively stable with the government taking efforts to bring in professionalism in all their departments.

Let us have a look at the key facts and figures about the country

General information – Population

The capital of Morocco is Rabat a beautiful city located at the mouth of the river Bou Regreg. It is the second most important city after Casablanca. The population of Morocco according to 2016 estimates was about 34.272.968 with an expected growth rate of 1.50%.

There is a combination of ethnic groups of Arabs, Berbers and mixed Arab and Berbers. They make for about the 99% of the population while other groups like Spaniards, French, Algerians and a few others make for the remaining 1%. The population is unevenly spread out over the country. About 59% of the total population lives in cities according.

That can be seen with the population of the five major cities of Morocco. Rabat has about 1.623.000 inhabitants according to 2014 figures. Similarly Casablanca has 5.118.000, Fez 1.120.000, Marrakech 928.000 and Tangier 948.000. residents.

Data about Languages

The official language is Arabic and others in use throughout the country are Derija (which is Moroccan Arabic) and the Berber dialects. You can also find French being used as the second language as a French protectorate existed over the country for sometime.

About 98% of the population believes in Islam. There is about 1% who believes in Christianity while others with no such affiliations are the remaining 1%.

Government

It is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy that exists here where the Prime Minister of Morocco is the head of the government. Executive powers are vested in parliament. There is an Assembly of Representatives of Morocco and a assembly of Councilors.

The King is allowed to terminate the tenure of the ministers and can even dissolve the Parliament in consultation with heads of higher and lower Assemblies. King Mohammed VI assumed the throne in July 1999 after the death of his father King Hassan II who ruled for 38 years.

2016 elections

After 2016 elections Saadeddine el Othmani became the Prime Minister of the country to head a coalition.

Economy

The currency in use is the Dirham. The economic growth of the country has been pretty stable for the last few years. The GDP for 1016 in US$ was $101 billion and the GDP per capita in US$ was $7.680 in 2015.

The growth can mainly be attributed to the improvement in agricultural produce. GDP growth in Agriculture, forestry and fishing was 15.7%, in services it was 56.5% and other industries contribution was 27.8%. This has lead to an overall improvement in the economy.

About 45% of the population is involved in the Agricultural and forestry and fishing sector. About 20% goes into the industry while about 26% was involved in services. However there is an unemployment rate of 9.7 percent.

King Mohammad VI is trying to boost the economy of Morocco with his Vision 2020 and the Azur Plan has given a big boost to the real estate sector. The overall country of Morocco, its climate, its culture, handicrafts etc are rich and make it a perfect tourist location.